Darkling Island
by harrypanther
Summary: Hiccup and the gang follow the Dragon Eye's clues to an isolated island where they encounter a mysterious dragon-and their own darkest fears. Set during RTTE Season One
1. Chapter 1:Darkness Falls

**A/N: This is set during RTTE: Season One.**

 **Disclaimer: How To Train Your Dragon belongs to Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.**

 **DARKLING ISLAND.**

 **One: Darkness Falls.**

"Is it much further?" Snotlout asked for the fifteenth time, his voice grating. Hiccup tightened his hands on Toothless's saddle and counted to ten…then twenty…then thirty…

"No," he finally said in a tight voice. "The Dragon Eye showed the island is over…there!" And indeed, just on the horizon, a lumpy brown silhouette was just appearing in the mist.

"FINALLY!" Snotlout shouted but the twins just groaned.

"Yeah, dude-that's great…but we aren't there yet," Tuffnut sighed.

"And then we have to fly all the way back!" Ruffnut added. "Just when we were working up our Loki Day pranks…we lose the whole of the day to this stupid trip!"

"Hey! The chance to discover and study a new dragon species on an unknown island is _hardly_ a waste of time!" Fishlegs called over. "Oooh! I wonder what species we'll find…and what special features they may have? Will they be friendly? Dangerous? Herd-living? Eel-Eating? Poisonous? Trainable?…"

"…and very, very dull!" Snotlout shouted. "Fishface, you really should get out a bit more…"

"What do you think you're doing now?" Astrid shot back, also very tired of his complaining. Snotlout drifted Hookfang, his Monstrous Nightmare, closer to her.

"Well, babe-maybe once we get there, you and me could lose the dork crew and go and explore… _together?"_ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Astrid frowned.

"And my breakfast is in my throat," she muttered. "Hiccup-why do we bring them _every_ time?" He sighed.

"Because I remember being told off for 'trying to sneak away'," he called back. "What was it? Oh yeah- _we're a team, Hiccup, and we all are stronger as a team than on our own!_ Or is that not the case any more?" He caught her scowl. "I am going to get _so_ punched for that," he sighed to Toothless, who gave a laughing warble. "It's okay for you, bud," he murmured. "You haven't loved her forever. I am _never_ going to be good enough for her."

It wasn't long before they were crossing the coast of a small to medium island that was moderately rocky with steep cliffs and an open forest covering most of the island. The riders found a small clearing and landed their dragons gratefully, all eager to get out of the saddle and stretch their legs. The twins went wild, bumping heads and punching each other and Snotlout collapsed to the ground, lacing his hands behind his head and looking like he was preparing for a nap. Hiccup stretched, his neck cracking audibly and winced as his leg twinged: it got stiff after long flights and usually he was good at hiding it. He frowned and looked up: the island was very quiet.

"Let's have a look around," he suggested, feeling the eyes of the others on him. He had suggested the mission and so it was his responsibility. He just wished they could have seen more of the island from the air before they landed. He sighed. The dragons had all curled up tiredly. "And I guess the dragons want a rest." Toothless cast him a weary look and closed his eyes pointedly. "Thanks, useless reptile. If I get eaten, it will be all your fault!" Hiccup grumbled as Astrid strode to his side.

"Teams?" she asked sweetly. He gave a small smile.

"Well…" he began.

"You're with me, babe!" Snotlout announced, grinning. Astrid snapped her head round and glared at Hiccup but he looked helplessly and shrugged.

"Okay-Fish, you're with me. Twins…"

"Yeah, yeah-we're together," Tuffnut sighed. "I get it. No one sees us as individuals, merely facets of the same composite whole."

"And our individuality has become completely subsumed in the gestalt organism termed as 'Twins'," Ruffnut concluded.

There was a long silence as everyone stared open-mouthed at the twins. Snotlout was staring mainly because he hadn't understood a word after 'yeah'! Hiccup cast his troubled green gaze across the group as every eye turned to him to sort out the problem. He bunched his fists and glared at them.

"FINE! You all decide for yourselves. I _really_ don't care!" he shouted and stormed off into the woods, not looking back and absolutely determined not to feel guilty. He accelerated away, ducking under branches and hopping over roots before anyone could call after him or follow him. He just needed to be alone. All he had wanted was to fly off to check out the island-possibly with Astrid because he really _really_ enjoyed spending time with her. But instead, it had turned into a major expedition with Snotlout's incessant complaining, the twins messing around that had caused their food supplies to be launched into the ocean an hour out of the Edge and Fishlegs mithering non-stop about what dragons they might find and if it might be dangerous.

He slowed down. He was their leader-probably because he was the Chief's son which won him a lot of automatic credit but also, he hoped, because he had suggested the original expedition to help Johan, had found the Dragon Eye and had organised the Edge. And since they had become Riders, he had led because he had been the first and best Rider and trainer. But they were all Vikings, which meant a leader had to constantly prove himself to his followers, or risk being replaced. And while the Hooligans tended to be more humane in their leadership succession than some other tribes-meaning he was unlikely to find Astrid burying an axe in his chest to take over leadership of the Riders-the pressure on Hiccup was constant. He stopped, breathing hard. Much of the pressure was exerted by Hiccup himself, incessantly second-guessing his own decisions, doubting his own capabilities and measuring himself against his father, the great Chief Stoick the Vast-and constantly finding himself wanting.

A snap sounded ahead of him and he stiffened, dropping to a crouch. He was already regretting racing off away from the others on a strange island but he wouldn't run now: he would see what was ahead first…and then run if he found something really dangerous. He crept closer, hearing harsh breathing and he hunkered down. He could just see a shape through the bushes ahead-a lumpy, dark shape. He reached for his knife and then consciously drew his hand back. That wasn't his way: he was an explorer first, a man who always sought the peaceful solution and a fighter only as a last resort. Quietly, he inched forward, keeping under cover as he crawled forward-and then he heard the roar.

The jet shape reared above him, scarlet eyes boring into his startled forest green gaze. He scrabbled away, crab-crawling as far back as he could until he found himself pinned against a wide oak trunk. Mist swirled around him, blotting out the sun and filtering amid the branches. The temperature dropped and his teeth began to chatter. He stared up into a pitiless scaly face, long fangs and ferocious claws that slashed across his chest. And trapped in the featureless fog, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound, Hiccup screamed…

oOo

Astrid was haranguing the entire group when the scream sounded and they all froze. They knew that voice: _Hiccup._ And though they were all annoyed that he had run off after shouting at them, all of them would give their lives to save him. Every eye turned to Astrid and she motioned them to follow her, drawing her axe. The twins spread out to her left, Snotlout and Fishlegs to her right. She cast a glance back and frowned. The dragons were all curled up in sleep-even Toothless who usually leapt to his feet at the sound of Hiccup in any sort of trouble. Maybe they were just exhausted after the long flight? She shook her head. Hiccup was her priority now.

"Has anyone noticed how misty it is?" Fishlegs asked nervously, gesturing to the skeins of fog that were making their way through the trees. "I'm sure it was completely clear when we arrived-and it's far too warm for fog to form."

"Don't say the twins have set something on fire again!" Snotlout scoffed.

"Hey! Why do we get blamed for everything?" Ruffnut protested. "We haven't set anything on fire for almost two days!"

"This doesn't smell like smoke," Astrid said thoughtfully. "It's more like fog…"

"Or Smog…" Fishlegs realised. "As in Breakneck Bog?"

"Oh great!" Snotlout scorned. "Don't tell me Captain Dork has managed to get his leg stolen again!"

"Snotlout!" Astrid snapped. "Why is it _always_ about the leg?"

"Hey, babe-it's always the leg!" Snotlout sneered. Astrid sighed.

"Come one-everyone-be careful!" she ordered and began to move forward.

The fog swirled more densely around them and Astrid lost sight of the others. She gripped her axe more tightly and slowly advanced through the undergrowth, the trees rising eerily through the fog. The blue sky had vanished amid the swirling fog and the forest had become cold and quiet. Astrid trod silently, her feet quiet as she advanced.

"Hiccup?" she called quietly. "Hiccup?"

Another scream sounded and she snapped her head round in the direction of the cry-then started to run…

oOo

Hiccup curled up, shaking. It was dark, quiet and alone. Somehow, the island forest had melted away to leave Hiccup alone in the dark… He looked up, squinting to realise the darkness wasn't total. Ahead, there was a flickering fire. Wincing, he scrambled to his feet…to realise he was back in his old clothes, the green tunic and leggings he had finally outgrown a couple of years ago. He looked down: he had two feet.

He recoiled. _This wasn't happening._ He pressed his fist to his eyes. _This is a dream. You've fainted from…bloodloss…yeah, and fear probably…_

"Son! Stop cowering in the dark and get over here!" his father's voice boomed at him and he walked reluctantly towards the light. He could tell from his father's tone that he was in trouble. He sighed: what was new? He was pretty much _always_ in trouble. He arrived by the fire to look up-and up-at his father's face. He seemed to have shrunk…or maybe he was younger? "Stop slouching!" Stoick reprimanded him. He hung his head.

"Yes, Dad. Sorry, Dad," he said despondently.

"Son," Stock said, his voice stern. "You are very disappointing. You are weak despite my efforts in getting you working with Gobber. You are hopeless at weapons. You aren't fit to go into dragon training. No one respects you. You will never be accepted as Chief. So I am going to have to exile you for good."

Hiccup stared up at him in shock. He had always feared his father would lose patience with his son, though Hiccup _knew_ that in reality, he had grown and was respected and liked by the village. He had won dragon training and saved the village by ending the war with the dragons.

"Dad-please…' Hiccup murmured. "I-I…"

"Be quiet!" Stoick roared. "I cannot believe I gave you so many chances and you failed me every single time. I even had Olaf Hofferson offering his daughter in marriage to you-of course, I turned him down because why would Astrid want to be tied to such a disastrous, useless, weak, pathetic failure?"

Hiccup felt his heart jolt in sudden pain. His greatest wish-and his Dad had just dismissed it out of hand. He felt his breath hitch and breathing suddenly became really difficult.

"Dad? I-I wish…I mean I hoped…" he began desperately.

"All I asked was for you to behave like a Viking-and you refused!" Stoick roared at him cutting across his heartbroken protest. "I demanded that you come on Chief training. I wanted you to accompany me on trips to other tribes. I encouraged you to learn from the Elders. But all you chose was to concentrate on those dangerous, subversive reptiles to the exclusion of your Tribe and your duty!" He smiled. "Well, I have taken care of that!" And he lifted a bloody axe, his other hand holding up Toothless's head. "Nothing to distract you now!"

Hiccup felt his entire world shatter, his legs buckling as his father loomed above him, the bloody axe rising for the final time over his discarded son.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup wailed as the axe fell.


	2. Chapter 2: Midnight

**Two: Midnight**

Astrid spun around in shock, reaching for her axe and finding her hand empty. The scream- _Hiccup's scream-_ echoed through the wooden kitchen she found herself standing in. She spun-and found herself in the gown of a married woman, her hair no longer braided as a maid but knotted up like a respectable wife. She turned and winced, glancing down to see her belly swollen and round with child.

She stumbled backwards against the table, her face falling in horror. _What was this? Some nightmare? Please let this be a nightmare!_

The door slammed open and admitted her husband-Snotlout. She recoiled in shock as he advanced rapidly, grasping her and pulling her hard against his body, his tongue pushed in her mouth as he kissed her and hands indecently and possessively roaming her curves. His hand lingered on her belly, a proud smile twisting his face as a small foot kicked away at him. She winced.

"Hey, my Princess-is my meal ready?" he asked, reluctantly moving away from her and sprawling in a padded seat by the fire. "The little guy's nearly ready, huh? Only a couple of weeks, if Gothi is right. Though we took long enough getting him in there." He gave a grin. "Though I wasn't complaining, Princess. Those six months were some of the best of my life."

Astrid felt sick. What he was implying…what had clearly _happened_ …was beyond her worst nightmares. She shook her head and balled her fists in anger. "Where's Hiccup?" she asked urgently. Snotlout's eyes widened in shock.

"Hiccup?" he said in confusion. "Why would you ask about old Useless? He was exiled by Stoick years ago-I think he may be dead now, eaten by a dragon or killed by an Outcast. The Chief made _me_ his Heir…and my Dad instantly made yours an offer he couldn't refuse."

"Ugh! Give me my axe. I suddenly need to go training!" she announced. He grabbed her arm, much harder than necessary and she yelped. "Ow! Snotlout…"

"I thought we had finished all this nonsense, Princess, when we married," he said in a hard voice. "As part of your contract, you gave up all this warrior nonsense. Gobber shattered your axe at the wedding as a sign of this deal. You promised to be my obedient, submissive wife, the woman who will run my house, the mother of my heirs…and nothing more. Your role is to cook and clean and service my needs and provide me strong sons and saleable daughters." She backed away from him, shaking her head.

"No…" she breathed. He pushed her back, grasping her hair to keep her still as he leered in her face.

"Don't say we have to start this again," he growled impatiently. "You are my wife…and nothing more. And you will do only what you are told…or you will be utterly dishonoured and so will all your family." And then he slapped her.

She felt tears burn in her eyes for everything she had wanted, very dream she had worked for was gone, taken from her by the worst cruelty. She was trapped, the man she loved gone, her warrior prowess forbidden, her freedom stolen… She backed away from him, tears streaming down her face, her breath hitching in despair. How had it come to this? How had she agreed to this nightmare?

But she knew. oh yes, she knew. _Money_. Her family was very poor: Snotlout's was rich and without Hiccup, there was no one else who would bid for her against him. She had been sold, effectively as a slave, to provide for her family, for her two younger brothers…and everything she had wanted had been cast aside like trash.

She collapsed in the corner, seeing no end to her torment, to her prison of a life without battle and excitement. Then Snotlout leaned over her and grabbed her hair, pulling her face up to meet his. "Don't worry, Princess," he said coldly. "You're never getting away from me."

oOo

Fishlegs heard Astrid's scream and he started. He was scuttling through the forest and he stopped, worried. A lot of things worried Fishlegs: that a man as big as him could _scuttle_ was one of them, but also that he wasn't as brave as he should be, that no one took him seriously, that all he seemed to offer was knowledge and that one day they would decide he was expendable.

Of course, he had shown that within him was another side, just waiting to come out: Thor Bonecrusher, the persona had had temporarily adopted when he had been hypnotised to rid him of allergies to dragons (but, as it turned out, to Gobber's ear wax). Thor had been brash, cruel, arrogant, dismissive of Meatlug and mean to all of Fishlegs's friends. He had been the opposite of what Fishlegs usually was and though he was an impressive, courageous, decisive Viking, Fishlegs infinitely preferred being himself. He sighed. Just for once, he wished people would want to be with him for him. He knew that Hiccup had really wanted to be partnered with Astrid-who wouldn't?-but it didn't make Fishlegs feel any better that Hiccup had only taken him as a second choice. He forgot that Hiccup spent hours with him discussing new dragons, that Hiccup often came to talk to him anyway and was always kind and patient with a fellow dragon-nerd.

Scuttling forward, the mist swirled more densely around them and he began to mutter the statistics about the Smothering Smokebreath to cheer himself up…

"Smothering Smokebreaths…Mystery Class…um…attack 4…speed 8…armour 6…"

"You don't know anything!" a brash young voice called and he spun-to see one of the youngsters from Berk who he used to take for dragon history-Synnoeve. She was a bright-eyed and very self-confident young girl with fat blonde braids and grey eyes. He leaned towards her.

"Erm…no, I'm very sure those are the stats for the Smothering Smokebreath…" he corrected her, his voice wavering.

"My Dad says you only got into the dragon riders because they needed a sixth rider for the Gronckle and you wouldn't be there of they didn't have one!" she told him. He shook his head.

"Actually…"

"What dragon is this?" she asked, pointing at a creature he had never seen-a blue-skinned streamlined creature with white stripes, four wings and bulbous yellow eyes. He blinked. He had never seen anything like it.

"I-I…"

"It's a Deep Diver. _Everyone_ knows that!" she scorned. "What about this one?" And she gestured to a dragon hardly bigger than her hand in iridescent silver and gold. He gaped.

"I…" he muttered.

"A Jewelfist!" she said triumphantly. "Really! How can you claim to be the Logmaster when you don't know anything?" And she lifted the Book of Dragons and flipped through it. Every page was strange, covered with pictures and runes about dragons that Fishlegs didn't know and had never seen before. He gaped.

"I-I don't know…" he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Fishlegs, but that really won't do," Hiccup said sternly, walking up to stand behind the girl. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Synnoeve!"

"Sure thing, Chief!" she said with a grin and ran off. Hiccup faced Fishlegs with a frown and folded his arms. His expression was cold.

"I've given you every chance, Fishlegs, but your incompetence has really passed the point where we can excuse it," he told the larger boy. "You can't fight. Your dragon is too slow. You fail on delivering dragon knowledge and you are a coward. I'm going to have to remove you from he Dragon Riders _and_ your post at the Academy, effective immediately. Please think carefully where you want to go next because we certainly can't keep you on Berk. We only put up with you when you had some use-but now…well, you're not popular and you don't have any friends…"

"But…Hiccup…" Fishlegs stuttered. "I-I thought we…" Hiccup fixed the husky young man with his piercing forest green gaze.

"What?" he asked directly. "You abandoned me when I was a boy, Fishlegs. You chose to be with the popular kids and didn't want to associate with Useless, leaving me with no friends at all for years."

Fishlegs stared at him in shock. Hiccup had forgiven him for that years ago. They had talked it through and the husky boy had apologised and made every effort over the years to make things up and be a good friend to Hiccup. "I-I thought…" Fishlegs said timidly but Hiccup cut him off brutally.

"I've done my best to be kind to you despite your betrayal but I really can't keep up the pretence any longer. As Chief and Head of the Dragon Riders, I'm giving Meatlug to someone who is worthy of her." Fishlegs shook his head, his eyes filled with hurt.

"Hiccup-no…" he breathed. "Please don't take my Meatlug!" Hiccup sighed.

"It's a shame you aren't like Thor Bonecrusher," he continued cruelly. "At least he would be of _some_ use to the village. But you really…are nothing…Get your things ready to leave the village. You are exiled." And he turned and walked briskly away, leaving Fishlegs devastated. But as he turned, he saw the villagers watching.

"Useless!"

"Stupid!"

Fatty!"

"Coward!"

Fishlegs began to run away from the cries and taunts, wishing the ground would swallow him up. He had lost his friends, his role, his dragon…everything that gave him any sense of worth….

oOo

Snotlout heard the whimpering and sounds of running feet and wondered what was happening. He had heard various screams and feared his friends were in serious trouble…but all he could see was the dense swirling grey of the fog. He sighed. He was the strongest of the Riders and while his clever cousin was the accepted leader, Snotlout was still not convinced that Hiccup deserved to be the Heir and certainly felt that Astrid should be falling over herself to spend time with him, rather than spending the ridiculous amount of time she did with Hiccup.

 _It was the power thing,_ he sighed. While Hiccup was the Heir, while he was admired for being good with dragons, Astrid would still see him as the best option, the alpha male. But Hiccup wasn't the Alpha: Snotlout was. He had proved it, over and over in Thawfest. _He_ was the winner for the last ten years, the unbeaten Thawfest Champion while Hiccup was a perennial loser. And even when he had Toothless, he still couldn't compensate for his physical weakness and lack of endurance. He could still see that first Thawfest after the peace with the dragons and his stunning triumph over the one-legged boy. And Hiccup had shown his true colours, being snarky and arrogant when he had the merest hint of success while Snotlout had always just conducted himself as a true champion should…

He blinked. He was back in the Arena, the sun was shining and Mulch was announcing the first event of Thawfest-the Sheep Lug. He smiled. If this was a dream or a vision, then it would enjoy reliving his triumphs again. So he willingly lined up at the start, a Berkian ewe across his shoulders. But when the clang of the starting bucket sounded. Snotlout felt as if he was running through treacle. Astrid and Fishlegs pulled away and even Hiccup was keeping pace with Snotlout-or was until he collapsed under his sheep. Snotlout staggered on, desperate and wondering if they had given him a sheep stuffed with iron ingots as a prank…when Fishlegs broke the finishing line first. The other boy's howl of triumph was like a knife in Snotlout's skull. _No one_ could lug sheep like him-yet he had lost. He shook his head and stared up in confusion at his father.

Spitelout was scowling and already mouthing threats at his son. The entire Jorgensen clan and their adherents were lined up, arms crossed and faces like thunder at his failure. He felt his heart sink but lifted his chin and approached the logroll. The others were already there and he scrambled up-but he felt far less stable than usual and when the log began to move, he found his arms flailing and he overbalanced first. He stared up in shock: he had never lost the logroll and he had the indignity of watching his cousin almost win-before he fell and Astrid took the prize.

He stared at the scoreboard in horror. There was a point painted by Fishlegs's image and one now by Astrid's-but nothing by his. By all rights and justice, his image should have two points by now. Something had gone seriously wrong. Was there a conspiracy against him-maybe to allow the Chief's precious little runt to win? Had he been sabotaged? He scowled and met an equally ferocious scowl from his father. He shook his head and grabbed his axe for the axe-throwing contest, twirling the weapon in his hands and lining up his aim. He lined up and smirked at Hiccup, then he lifted and threw his axe.

It missed the target completely. Snotlout gaped as Hiccup gave a good throw on target-but didn't quite reach and the others all missed-except Astrid, who scored a hit right in the centre of the target. She was awarded the victory and Snotlout had the indignity of watching the second point painted by her name. He walked away-to find his arm grabbed by his father.

"What the Hel are you doing?" Spitelout sneered.

"Dad-I don't understand!" Snotlout protested. "I'm trying really hard. We've practiced as we normally did. How can I not be winning unless the others are cheating?"

"I don't care!" Spitelout snarled. "Did I ever tell about the time I almost lost Thawfest?" Snotlout cheered up-but not really. He knew from his memory how this would go.

"No, Dad?"

"Because it never happened!" Spitelout spat. "No Jorgensen has _ever_ been beaten. And if you aren't a winner, you aren't a Jorgensen!" Snotlout felt his breaths hitch in horror: he would be disowned if he lost. And there were only the dragon events left.

The next day went exactly as his memory recalled: Hiccup managed a perfect run on Toothless in the obstacle course and was awarded full marks and his first ever Thawfest point. In the trick competition, Snotlout's ended in horrendous disaster while Hiccup scored the full nine points from the judges and top place-and another Thawfest point, tying with Astrid. And the final event, the shoot and fly, was a horrible disaster for Snotlout but a triumph for Hiccup and he scored his third and winning Thawfest point. Snotlout felt physically sick as he watched Hiccup awarded the medal by his beaming and gloating father and even worse as Astrid draped herself over the victor and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. It was official: Hiccup had stolen his victory and his girl.

He was dragged from his reverie by a rough hand on his shoulder, a cuff to the back of the head and a furious voice that roared in his ears.

"LOSER!" Spitelout bellowed. "By the Gods, I should have drowned you at birth. You have shamed seven generations of Jorgensons by losing. I cannot have you as a son any more. As of this hour, you are cast from the family. You have no name. You are NOTHING!"

And he walked away, past the gloating Hiccup and his fawning friends, leaving Snotlout literally with nothing…

oOo

Tuffnut stared into the grey gloom. It was really hard to see anything and all he had heard was the screams and cries of the others-but not the one he feared. He frowned: he was careless and generally dedicated to causing chaos but he wasn't totally stupid and walking into whatever fate was befalling the others in this impenetrable fog was the stupidest thing he had heard of.

"BUTT-ELF" he shouted.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut called back at him from the gloom.

"This is stupid, sis!" he shouted.

"Er…duh!" she yelled back. "Why are we walking into the fog?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tuff shouted.

"Fill Hiccup's hut with fish as a Loki day prank?"

"Er, no…but yours is way better!"

"So what we _you_ thinking?" Ruff called to him, stopping walking.

"That we should get the Hel outta here because I cannot see _anything_ and the chicken would NOT approve!"

"You know that's almost sensible!" Ruff called to him.

"And they call _us_ idiots!" Tuff scoffed. "D'you wanna come over here to me?"

"Well…as long as no one else can see us…" Ruff admitted and kept walking towards his voice until she appeared from the gloom. "Okay, what now?" Tuff frowned and looked like he was in pain.

"I…think…we should…retrace…our steps…" he said very painfully. Ruff's face twisted in a disturbing smile.

"Brilliant!" she told him and they shared a relieved grin. Then both began to walk backwards through the shadowy forest, side by side, heading back for their dragons.


	3. Chapter 3: Dawn

**Three: Dawn**

Hiccup felt the blow cut across his scored shoulders, the chains on his ankles and wrists clinking as he was forced forward by the Berserker guards. His rags didn't hide the wounds on his body or offer any protection against the icy wind. He was forced to limp up the slope of the village, seeing houses burning and bodies sprawled outside their homes, eyes staring into the orange night. Berk was on fire and the Berserkers were in charge.

"Brother!" the crazed voice of Dagur called and he stiffened but a brutal clout across the head dropped him to his knees and he was bodily dragged up to face the escaped Berserker. "I see you finally arrived. Shame you've missed all the fun!" Hiccup was hauled to his feet and forced forward-to see bodies lying on the ground in the plaza. His breath hitched and he felt the bottom drop out of his world.

Sprawled, dead, were Gobber, Snotlout, the twins, Fishlegs…and Astrid. He began to hyperventilate and blinked hard. He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I'm so sorry. Astrid…I wasn't good enough…I couldn't stop him…"

"Don't you fret, brother," Dagur said, coming up, his double-headed axe bloody and face smeared with dirt and blood. He gave a vicious smile at Hiccup and grabbed the young Viking's face. "You'll get your reward." Hiccup frowned.

"W-what?" he gasped, his voice hoarse. Dagur smiled as a huge shape wrapped in chains was manhandled down the slope and forced to his knees. Stoick scowled at Dagur and lifted his chin proudly.

"I will never surrender!" he said proudly. Dagur leaned forward and laughed at him.

"Doesn't matter, Stoick!" he sneered. "There is nothing to surrender. The village is destroyed and everyone is dead-except you…and him." He gestured to the ragged, beaten shape of his son. "He is the reason why I have come. The reason why I gathered my allies, why I survived the tortures in Alvin's prison, why I am here today destroying every last Hooligan. I am going to kill you, Stoick-because your pathetic boy couldn't stop me. And then, he will spend the rest of his life as my slave, serving my every whim and spending every waking hour in the knowledge that _his_ weakness, _his_ naiveté, _his_ stupidity killed you all!" And he lifted his axe.

"Son?" Stoick asked, his eyes confused.

"Dad-I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Hiccup whimpered. "Oh gods, please spare him-take me instead…"

But the axe fell and Stoick slumped, lifeless. Hiccup dropped to his knees sobbing. Dagur grabbed his hair and stared down into the eyes where something had broken, where the life had finally extinguished…

"Let me die," Hiccup whimpered.

"No," Dagur breathed. "I will never let you go…"

oOo

The twins almost tripped over Barf'n'Belch which was their first clue that they were in the clearing. The fog was still all-enclosing, the clammy grasp making them shiver. But they made enough noise to wake their very sleepy dragon and once he was moving, they started to rouse the others. They were very drowsy-almost as if they had been drugged-but none of them could resist concentrated Twins for very long and finally, the dragons were all upright-and very grumpy.

"It's like this," Tuffnut began, sitting securely on his saddle on Belch's neck. "The others are in trouble. And we can't find them. We though maybe you could find Hiccup, T…" Toothless made a grumbling noise and yawned.

"Yeah-we would if we could!" Ruff offered from Barf's neck. "But this fog is weird and everyone else is screaming so we thought we needed your help. We would say Hiccup's help- _obviously_ -but he's missing so we need him." Toothless shook his head. He could sense something was wrong as well: he felt an almost overwhelming weariness that had come on as they had closed on the island. He had no idea how long they had been asleep but the bright sunny day had turned to this foggy gloom. And Toothless could smell a strange dragon…

He roared at the others and they all rose onto their hind legs, flapping their wings and dispersing the fog somewhat. Toothless gave a roar and shot a plasma bolt up into the air. The dragons could all smell it now: the smell of fear, the smell of despair, the smell of utter hopelessness. Their riders were in desperate danger. Sticking closely together, Toothless barked to Hookfang and the Monstrous Nightmare ignited himself, casting a strong orange light through the gloom. Toothless led, followed by Hookfang with the twins bringing up the rear.

"How come we're always last-even when we're the _only_ Riders?" Tuff asked his sister in a disappointed voice. She shrugged.

"Doesn't matter," she admitted. "The dragons will find their riders and greatness needs no fanfare!" Tuff frowned for a moment.

"Where did you hear _that_ one?" Tuff asked her.

"No idea!" she shouted back happily.

The dragons growled and roared as they moved as a unit through the foggy forest, stopping at times to flap their wings and disperse the fog. Toothless was following Hiccup's scent but he came across Snotlout first. He gently moved the unconscious boy and gripping his vest in his teeth, he slung him over the saddle on his dragon's neck. Tuff dismounted and helped tie Snotlout in place then returned to his dragon. When they stumbled across Fishlegs. Meatlug was almost disconsolate and kept nudging and licking him desperately but the twins managed to get him onto his saddle and secure him in place.

When they found Astrid, curled into a tight ball and rocking, all of them-well, the conscious humans and dragons-were getting very worried. Snotlout and Fishlegs showed no signs of waking and Astrid was shivering, her skin icy. Stormfly was very agitated and the twins had difficulty securing Astrid comfortably on her saddle. Toothless growled. Hiccup's scent was getting stronger and was mixed with the familiar and very worrying smell of blood. The Night Fury reared and flapped the fog away again. He gave his special echolocation roar and then darted forward, the others following.

Suddenly, the fog thinned and the dragons and twins saw the lumpy shape of a black dragon, looming over the huddled shape of Hiccup. There was red on his chest and it was obvious he was hurt. Ruff leaned closer and frowned: he was moaning faintly, whimpering and apologising in a barely audible voice. She leapt down and walked by Toothless towards the Rider.

But as they got close, the strange dragon reared on its hind legs and fearsome claws-stained red with Hiccup's blood-slashed at them. It's long snout held a ferocious battery of jagged teeth and its wide nostrils exhaled the grey smoke that whirled around them. Its small eyes gleamed scarlet in the gloom. Ruff felt herself getting unsettled as she breathed in the smoke and cast her brother a worried look: she was afraid something would happen to him if she wasn't careful. She couldn't bear to be separated from him…after all they had never been apart in their lives…

And then she blinked as Toothless licked her solemnly. She shook her head and she backed away. "Tuff? Stay back," she said in a low voice. "The smoke makes you think about what you fear…" Her twin frowned and beckoned her back.

"I think…this is a dragon thing," he told her in a low voice as Toothless growled, arched his back and fired a plasma bolt at the dragon. It roared and spread its wings, trying to flap more smoke at the dragons. They were sagging and Tuff kicked at Stormfly to keep her awake. "T-I think you should grab Hiccup and get outta here!" he called.

"WAIT!" Ruff called, frowning. "Toothless can't fly while Hiccup's out!" Tuff sighed.

"I'll fly T while you hang onto Hiccup!" he suggested.

"But we tried flying with only one of us before and look how that worked out!" she protested. "You almost got burnt alive and I ended up walking for hours!"

"Yeah…it took ages to regrow my back hair," the male twin sighed happily. "Enough, wench! I shall fly Toothless and Belch will go where you want because _you'll be following me!"_ Ruff considered for a second.

"Oh-alright then," she said brightly as Toothless darted forward and grabbed Hiccup, tossing him into Tuff's arms. The twin looked down on their leader: his face was scrunched in a terrified expression and he was terribly pale. Three deep claw-marks had slashed across his chest and there was blood soaked into his leather jerkin and tunic. His clever hands were bunched tightly, clutched to his chest for protection and he was repeating the words ' _I'm sorry, I'm sorry_ ,' over and over in a piteous whimper. Tuff shifted the limp body in his arms and carefully handed Hiccup to his sister, who cuddled him close and secured herself on the Zippleback. With a whoop, Tuffnut launched onto the Night Fury's saddle.

Toothless growled at him but Tuffnut hung on tight and pressed on the control pedal as all the Riders had been shown by Hiccup, many moons before. "Look, T-I know you want Hiccup and I want Hiccup too-though not to ride me because that would be weird…or would it?…but if we stay here, I think that dragon will put us all to sleep and we'll never get away. And Hiccup isn't in any state to fly you!" The Night Fury paused, fired another plasma bolt at the attacking dragon and then gave a roar. Instantly, the other dragons launched and Toothless was a heartbeat behind-but soon he led the rapid ascent and suddenly they broke through into the warm sunny air. Below them, a huge cloud of grey was pooled on the island, smelling vaguely like nettles and wet bracken.

"We're free!" Ruff shouted.

And then the dragon emerged from the fog, raggedy wings flapping and roaring furiously at the theft of its prey.

"Or not," she amended as the Zippleback began to hiss. She gave a grin. "Get the others up, Tuff-I think Barf wants to give this dragon some different fog to breathe!" Toothless led the others in a rapid spiral up as the Zippleback flipped and headed down towards the enemy. And the left hand head began to spew greenish gas as the Zippleback swooped around the ascending dragon, steering clear of the claws and then looping up back towards his friends.

"Belch-do your thing!" Tuff shouted and the right head sparked, igniting a monster explosion that slammed into the attacking black dragon and batted it aside, tumbling head over tail. Toothless shot a plasma blast at the concussed dragon and the other dragons joined in, peppering the strange dragon until, with a ferocious roar, it retreated and sank back down towards the fog…

…just as Fishlegs lifted his head and moaned. He caught a glimpse of the dragon, screamed "Not another one!" and threw his arms across his eyes. Tuffnut frowned as Meatlug gave a little croon and tried to reassure her Rider.

"Another _what?"_ he asked with a confused look. Snotlout shook his head.

"No, Dad-I'll always be a Jorgensen!" he protested opening his eyes and balling his fists. then he blinked. "What are we doing in the air _again_?" he demanded. "Aren't we there yet? I should have known…useless Hiccup…"

"YOU!" Astrid shouted, her hand automatically reaching for her axe as her eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. "I will never let you touch me again!" Ruff stared over at her twin.

"Is it just me or is this making even less sense than usual?" she asked. Tuff sighed.

"Let's just ask the chicken when we get back," he said.

oOo

They found the wrecks as they fled from the island, ships rotted and abandoned as men who stopped on an apparently uninhabited island but who never came back to reclaim them and continue on their way. Fishlegs suggested that they got caught by the dragon, whose fog seemed to induce utter despair and leave them helpless and vulnerable in a terror- or despair-induced coma for the dragon to eat at its leisure. The same fog-in smaller doses-had made the dragons sleepy and the Riders realised their dragon friends would probably shared the same fate as they would: they had found dragon bones scattered on the cliffs amid human bones as they had swooped low on their final pass before they left.

Hiccup didn't wake as they cleared the fog. He had been exposed for much longer and had lost quite a lot of blood from his wounds. They had landed on a rocky seastack to enable Fishlegs to at least dress the wounds and stop the bleeding. Everyone was worried at his injury but no one would make any comment that he had run off on his own on a strange island: Hiccup would apologise when he woke up. He always did. Then they had made the long flight back to the Edge, each lost in his own thoughts.

They arrived close to dawn, their dragons exhausted but no one had complained: they had all taken Hiccup to his hut and sat with him until, around noon, his bleary eyes had finally opened and he realised he was home, his really painful chest was bound tightly with bandages and the Riders were all dozing seated in his room. He winced and tried to sit up but the creak of the bed and his soft hiss of pain was enough to have Astrid waking, instantly at his side. She offered him a relieved smile.

"How are ya feeling, babe?" she asked him gently. He winced.

"Um…like I've had about a hundred really awful nightmares, my chest has been cut open and I've been sleeping in a really bad position," he winced, holding his neck.

"Ah, that would be Ruff," she admitted. "She held you all the way back-though not very well…"

"Hey-I didn't see you doing any better, Miss 'I will axe little Snotlout off…'" Ruff called.

"What?" Hiccup asked, his eyes flooded with confusion. Astrid sighed as the others began to wake and they filled him in. His eyes widened as he heard their nightmares and he ashamedly offered up his own…fear of disappointing his father, fear of failure, fear of allowing those he loved to die, fear of not being the Chief he could be, fear of losing to Dagur…

"I'm sorry, guys," he apologised sadly. "I shouldn't have shouted at you and run off. I…"

"I think we have all learned what we value-and fear most-from this ," Astrid interrupted him, accepting his apology without a hesitation, "and while I wish you wouldn't run off again, I can understand that sometimes, you find leading hard. Especially _this_ group of Vikings! Most of the time, you try to involve us all in the decision and that often works…but don't forget to include yourself in the discussions well, Hiccup. You can't always put others first. Sometimes, say what _Hiccup_ wants, not just what everyone else wants."

"Except you were right," Hiccup noted, chagrinned. "If we hadn't brought the whole team, we would be dead. Ruff and Tuff saved us."

"That dragon feeds on those it entraps," Fishlegs said quietly, finishing his sketch and entry for the book of dragons. "Its fog spreads despair and darkness so that you don't have the will to fight. You believe you are hopeless or worthless and just accept the nightmare and thus your fate." And then he stared over at the twins. "So how did you escape them?"

"Yeah, I wanna know how those mutton-heads fought the shadows off!" Snotlout sneered from the corner. He hadn't really wanted to explain his nightmare but he was disappointed that his fear of failure had seemed to come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

"Simple really-both our greatest fear is the same," Ruff told him simply. "Though we resent being part of a gestalt 'Twins' being, neither of us has been separated from our twin and our fear is to lose each other."

"Yeah-like that's a shock to either of us," Tuff scowled, stroking his chicken. "We've come to terms with that _years_ ago! The chicken says that one day, we will be separated-but that we will meet in Valhalla-and then…"

"There goes the neighbourhood!" Snotlout grumbled. "Is that it?" He made a face. "I can't believe those mutton-heads saved us all. Aargh!" He got up and stomped out. The twins gave a wink and then sneaked out afterwards, clearly planning some prank. Sure enough, an explosion sounded about thirty seconds later. There were shouts and the sounds of things being thrown.

"Yup-they're back to normal," Astrid smiled, watching them go. Hiccup winced as he sat forward and beckoned Fishlegs closer.

"What've you put for the dragon, Fish?" he asked. Astrid settled by him, edging herself onto the bed and acting as a backrest, her hands rising to gently braid a small hank of his hair. Hiccup's green eyes scanned the entry and he smiled. "Good work. I think maybe we need a warning."

"Like 'extremely dangerous-avoid this island at all costs?'" Astrid suggested. Fishlegs nodded and scribed the words quickly.

"All that's missing is a name," Hiccup said, inspecting the page again. Fishlegs gave a small smile.

"Already sorted," he said gently. "That dragon uses our darkness and paralyses us with our fears. I've called it a Darkling."

"And the island…Darkling Island?" Hiccup asked. Fish nodded. Hiccup smiled and rested his hand over his wounds. "Thor willing, that's somewhere we'll never go again!"

 **The End.**

 **A/N: Smothering Smokebreath facts courtesy of the Dragonpedia on the official HTTYD website.**

 **Despair smoke inspired by the Despair Squid in 'Back to Reality' [Red Dwarf s5 ep 6 1992]**


End file.
